Jacoby starts out writing about William F. Buckley Jr. who I have always admired. Most of the time I didn't understand what he was saying but was fascinated by his accent, the tone of his voice, the words that he used and his appearance. Oh, and I always thought he sounded like he had a hot potato in his mouth!
Jacoby writes about an interview that Gene Shalit had with Buckley - Buckley once recalled, he was asked how he came up with topics to write about in his newspaper column.
"Gene, when you have been at the profession for long enough, "Buckley imprudently replied, "you can, if in a bind, close your eyes and point to the front page of The New York Times, and whatever story you are fingering when you open your eyes - you can write a column on that story."Jacoby goes on to explain how there are times it can be difficult to come up with an idea for a column and proceeds to give some examples. Funny!
Shalit didn't miss a beat. "Yes," he said, "I think I remember that story."
Now, as you have been reading this post you can see what I am getting at. There are times when I just don't know what I am going to write about and THEN I read something in the Globe and say, aha - that's a good one - (that has made my day many times)
For example just Last Sunday I made a post entitled "Name Change." The Globe had a piece about Elderhostel changing their name to Exploritas and I thought that would make an interesting post. It jogged my memory and I had the opportunity to write about some of my experiences at Elderhostels.
Now you know what I do during the week, I read The Globe and keep my eyes open - maybe I'll read something that I can use for my next post!!